Would you like to have a class with Ellen?

Ellen would be delighted to have a class with you or your group! You can check out her classes at www.ellenanneeddy.com. She also offers independent studio time in her studio in Indiana. Talk to Ellen about classes at 219-921-0885, or contact her scheduler Sarah at 616-485-5646 to set a date

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Ellen Anne Eddy
Author of Thread Magic: The Enchanted World of Ellen Anne Eddy Fiber artist, author and teacher
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Monday, January 9, 2012

Moving Day

3:47 PM | Posted by Ellen Anne Eddy | | Edit Post

No one ever believes 

I'm organized.

That may because I'm 

not.

I live simply in howling 

chaos.

I also know where

mostly everything is.

 Unless it's my camera, my scissors,

my glasses, or perhaps my wallet.


Perhaps you can see the hole in that 

theory. I'm trying to be organized and 

that may well be the best we can do.

With that in mind, I'm moving my blog 

over to my web

page at www.ellenanneeddy.com. It's 

easier for you to find and easier for me 

to share with you.

Look for all my past blog posts, on the new site at www.ellenanneeddy.com

8 comments | Links to this post
Sunday, January 8, 2012

Practical Thread Magic: Building Beautiful Color

2:23 PM | Posted by Ellen Anne Eddy | | Edit Post
Most of the time when we think of mixing colors, we think of two colors becoming one.
Working with thread is so different. The machine work lays one line of thread next to each other. Our eyes mix the colors together, but they stay separate, clean, clear and beautiful.


This tulip has ten colors in it.
Why so many? Because real tulips  have multiple streaks of red, orange and yellow. That large range of colors lets me shade from side to side, giving my flower real depth and detail.
Here are some of the process shots.

One layer of zigzag stitching after another builds us to a flower with dimension and full color range.

Want learn more about building flower colors in thread?

Thread Magic Garden has a whole chapter on color theory for flowers. Why?
Flowers ARE color. It's what it's all about.


Thread Magic Garden is available for sale now on Ellen's web page at www.ellenanneeddy.com
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Friday, January 6, 2012

Bad Raps, and Bad Wraps

9:53 AM | Posted by Ellen Anne Eddy | | Edit Post



I grew up reading the Jungle Books by Kipling, so I've always loved wolves. The wolves take this baby in and raise him as one of their cubs. Like most adoptive processes, there's a bit of cognitive dissonance about the whole thing. He doesn't fit in well. 


So this video touched me.  It's about perception and reality. For all of her obvious concern when she sees the wolves, they scatter when she says "Git!" The wolves are not evil. They're just wolves.


This last year I've been working on the issue of bullies. I really don't want to go to my grave grieving over things that happened when I was seven. And like all really good emotional issues, the opportunities come back again and again until I can find better solutions. There's two schools of though on this. "Oh no! Not another learning experience!" And, "There you are again!"


Bullies function on a wolf perception.Someone has to be perceived either as a wolf to be driven away or a wolf who will probably eat you. Like most binary systems, it has some serious limits.


It occurs to me that two things have to happen to create a wolf perception. We have to give someone a bad rap. We give ourselves reasons why they've done what they've done. Maybe it's true. Often enough, that's a fantasy too. We just convince ourselves of their bad action and intent.


And then we dress them as villains. Give them  a bad wrap to wear: a black hat, a swirling evil cloak, an evil glint to their eye.




I've had it happen to me as well. I've had people hand me my black cloak and hat and tell me why I'm a danger.


It's not that I believe there is no evil in the world. It's there. Nor do I believe it my job to change people's choices. I wouldn't take someone's path away from them like that. If we don't walk our path as best we can, we won't learn from it. 


But after years of dressing people in bad wraps and giving them bad raps and being dressed in the same, it occurs to me that they might just scatter if I said, "Git!" My perception is power I give or take, all by myself.



You'll find the Jungle Book at Amazon.com. Skip the Disney copies. They're cute but a completely different story.




You'll find people who want to dress up in funny black cloaks and be icky and people who want to dress you too in all kinds of odd places. I hope you can say "Git!" to them too.



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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Find the Flakes

10:52 AM | Posted by Ellen Anne Eddy | | Edit Post
Every season I offer three quilts on my web site at a silly low price, just to see if you're watching.




I just posted up my three winter ones. We're calling it the Snow Flake price because I really flaked out on it.


Here's a secret: They're all in the new Thread Magic Garden Book.


 See if you can find them! They're at 
www.ellenanneeddy.com
Thread Magic Studio Gallery
2 comments | Links to this post
Monday, January 2, 2012

Not Quite Ready for Prime Time Theater

4:49 PM | Posted by Ellen Anne Eddy | | Edit Post
 I was wandering around on the web  today and found this great segment that AQS taped for me at the Des Moines Show this Fall.




This is a very nice tutorial for making flowers out of simple shapes. They taped this the last day of the show. I ran in and babbled like a brook.


But I found it and listened to it today. I didn't ummm. And it felt as good to listen to it as to do it.


Build some cool flowers. For heaven's sake leave the patterns out.  Build something wild, while you're under the gun. It is, after all, time honored.
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Friday, December 30, 2011

Thread Magic Garden Is Ready for Pre-order!

11:32 AM | Posted by Ellen Anne Eddy | | Edit Post
Thread Magic Garden will be arriving for shipment around January 20th. You can pre-order your copy today!

You never really know what a project will take until you see it done. Perhaps that's good. A good dream well done should take your whole heart's effort and give you your heart back in return.

When I started this book, I had no idea it would take 2 years to finish. Part of that is that I had to learn so much to do this book.  Part of that is the meticulous process C&T puts into every book.  I got my premier copy a week ago.I'm still scraping myself off the ceiling. It's past my expectations. I'm hoping you'll feel that way too.

When I started this book, I wanted to continue what I'd accomplished with Thread Magic. I wanted to show folk ways of adding wild free motion to quilts that set things hearts and imaginations on fire. I wanted to set up instructions that would take you through your own process with this. You'll have to let me know how I've  done when you read the book.
But for those of you who've known me in class or in print, you know I don't give recipes for cakes that don't rise. I tell you everything I know. I also don't do anything really hard. I just do things that are time consuming and compulsive.
So here is what we have.
  • Fifty eye popping new quilts in the gallery
  • A patternless approach to design
  • Intuitive applique that makes creating flowers  easy and fun

Tutorials in
  • Color theory for flowers
  • Corded buttonhole  binding
  • Angelina Fiber
  • 6 Free motion zigzag stitches
  • Machine Beading
  • Globbing
  • Sandwich stabilizing
I'm hoping I've done a good job of opening doors, traveling a new path, leaving good bread crumbs for anyone who wants to follow, and breaking the best rules I could find to break. See you on the trail.

You can  pre-order your copy of Thread Magic Garden at 
www.ellenanneeddy.com


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Monday, December 26, 2011

The Sprinkles on the Donut

9:19 AM | Posted by Ellen Anne Eddy | | Edit Post
After years of drawing bugs and frogs it has occurred to me that I'm a bit odd. All artists are, mostly. The ones who look normal pass well.
I'm not that good an actress.


I was at church for Christmas day. The choir at this church takes off for Christmas. I could have sat in the choir pews, but I ended up in the general congregation.


I'm not an alto as a show off. It's simply where  my range is. I can't sing the high notes reliably. It happens occasionally, but like Tuesday, anything could happen. So I was singing the alto line, against the bulk of the congregation on the melody.


It's different within the choir. You expect to hear the part above and below you. The blend is planned and it's where you belong.
This was much more separate, and more isolating. 


At the end of the service it occurred to me that much of my life is that way: a counterpoint to melodies I can not reach. My plans for the holiday collapsed and I ended up  more alone than was comfortable.


I was speaking afterwards to the choir director who said, "You know, you'll never be the donut. You're the sprinkles on the donut. And that's why we want the donut anyway.


Now the nicest thing about the sprinkles on the donut is that they come in a range of color. They're practically an edible color chart.


I don't get to eat donuts either, but I've learned to appreciate allergy foods as a visual experience. And I'm an edible color chart! There are worse fates and worse goals.









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Quiltposium, Fall2011

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Ellen's New Article, Dance of Design

Essential Embroidery Stitches: Free Hand and Machine Embroidery Designs and Techniques.

Essential Embroidery Stitches: Free Hand and Machine Embroidery Designs and Techniques.
Get this free book from Quilting Arts. It has a series of articles I wrote called Defining the Line.

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The Butterfly Effect

Guest Blog On Subversive Stitchers!

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The Stories Tell Me

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